By Ovat Abeng
The Anambra State Electricity Regulatory Commission, ASERC, has issues a binding order mandating full metering of every electricity customer in Anambra State.
The Commission also declares estimated billing an ‘inadequate and unsustainable substitute’ for actual metering; threatens loss of franchise for non-compliant distributors and announces landmark electricity regulation signing with the state government at the light house Awka, on Friday.
The mandatory order was contained in a statement signed and made available to Journalists in Awka, on Wednesday by the Commission’s media officer, Mr Wike Nweke.
According to Nweke, the Anambra State Electricity Regulatory Commission (ASERC) has issued Order no ASERC/2026/001, a landmark enforcement instrument compelling every electricity distributor operating in the Anambra State Electricity Market (ASEM) to meter all customers within their franchise areas, on pain of losing the right to serve those customers.
The Order, which took effect on 25 May 2026, was signed by ASERC’s Chairman/CEO, Prof. Frank N. Okafor, and Executive Commissioner for Legal, Licensing and Enforcement, Barr.
Chijioke N. Obi, and represents a very consequential regulatory action of the Commission since commencing operations under the Anambra State Electricity Law (ASEL) 2025.
“Any licensee who fails to comply loses the right of franchise over the customer or group of customers.”
“Order No. ASERC/2026/001, Paragraph 10(b) Background: A Crisis of Metering and Arbitrary Billing despite successive federal interventions including the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory
Commission’s (NERC’s) estimated billing capping methodology, the Meter Asset Provider (MAP) framework, and the National Mass Metering Programme (NMMP) the metering deficit in Anambra State has persisted. In April 2026, First Power Electricity Distribution Company Limited (FPEDCL), the current sole holder of an Interim Electricity Distribution Licence in ASEM, submitted an operational report to ASERC.
“A review of that report disclosed a substantial number of both Maximum Demand (MD) and Non-MD customers across FPEDCL’s franchise area who remain completely unmetered.
“ASERC found this situation unacceptable.
“The Commission noted that the practice of estimated billing, far from serving as a transitional bridge to full metering, has instead entrenched a culture of
arbitrary billing, fuelling persistent consumer complaints across the State.
“The order frames the metering gap not merely as an operational shortcoming but as a breach of Section 25(9)(d) of ASEL 2025, which places a statutory duty on ASERC to ensure the availability of meters for end-use electricity consumers.
“All licensees in electricity distributive trade in ASEM are required to meter every customer within their franchise for energy accountability.
“Any licensee that fails to comply forfeits its franchise rights over the unmetered customer or group of customers.
“FPEDCL is granted a derogation to achieve full compliance on or before 31 December 2027.
“With effect from 1 June 2026, FPEDCL must submit periodic reports to the Commission weekly, monthly and quarterly documenting meter rollout progress, including beneficiary
contact details, quantities and types of meters deployed, and any other data required by ASERC.
“The Commission will not tolerate a situation in which Anambra
electricity customers are billed by estimation rather than by
measurement. This Order is not a request it is a regulatory demand,
and it carries consequences.”
“The issuance of this order comes at a momentous juncture for electricity governance in Anambra
State.
“This Friday, 29th MASERC is scheduled to sign a suite of landmark regulations under ASEL 2025 including the Draft Application for Licences (Generation, Distribution and Trading) Regulations 2026, the Investment in Electricity Market Regulations, Independent Electricity Distribution Network (IEDN) Regulation and the Customer Protection Regulations.
“Together, these instruments will constitute the most comprehensive regulatory framework ever established for the Anambra electricity market, setting out clear rules for market entry, investments, consumer rights, billing standards, and operational conduct for all licensed operators.
“The Commission regards this week as a historic inflection point in Anambra’s electricity governance journey, one that signals the transition from a federal-supervised transitional arrangement to a
fully operative, independently regulated State electricity market,” the statement concluded.
